Geisha Hairstyling, ca. 1927

Silent black & white archival film clip from "Japan: Promotional and Theatrical Footage, ca. 1927". The full film, which is 17 minutes long, includes segments from what are believed to be a theatrical film, a promotional film and, possibly, amateur film - all of unknown origin.

This clip is from the promotional film. It shows a Geisha having her hair styled. This material is from the collections at the Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

For more details, see the full catalog record: http://collections.si.edu/search/results.jsp?q=hsfa+Japan+Promotional+and+The...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Archival
• film;
• historical;
• Japan;
• Geisha;
• footage;
• HSFA;
• Smithsonian;
• beauty;
• kimono;
• Hair

[honeydew661]

How amazing!! It must have been painstaking work to have to do that everyday. How can they keep their skin clear if they put on so much makeup? But wow what an art.

[AThousandTales]

It looks like this maiko/hangyoku (apprentice geisha) came in wearing the oshiyun hairstyle, and when she left she was wearing the ofuku hairstyle. Oshiyun is nowadays rarely seen: only on Setsubun and sometimes before a maiko becomes a full-fledged geisha will she wear it. Ofuku on the other hand is a pretty common hairstyle and is worn by all senior maiko.